Spectrophotometric evidence for the formation of short-lived Mn(VI) as transient species intermediate during the permanganate oxidation of chitin and chitosan polysaccharides in alkaline solutions

The formation of a short-lived manganate(VI) intermediate has been confined during the oxidation of chitin and chitosan polysaccharides by the permanganate ion at pH's greater than or equal to 12, spectrophotometrically. The Mn(VI) transient species intermediate was characterized by a band at a wavelength of 610 nm, an absorption maximum, with a absorptivity (i.e., molar extinction coefficient) of 1250 +/- 75 dm(3) mol(-1) cm(-1).